Start With Why?
A reading for Thursday, April 24, 2014: Matthew 28:16-20.
A mission statement for Christians:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
In his book, "Start With Why," Simon Sinek argues that in order to inspire people to a cause or a mission we have to understand not just the what? and the how? but the why? of what we are doing. It's not enough to have a good plan or strategy. People are not inspired by plans. "Why?" is a statement about what I believe. You can see more in Sinek's Ted Talk about his book if you are interested, and I hope you are.
Fact is, many Christians don't know the why? Our mission statement given to us in Matthew 28 is the what? and the how? but it's not the why? That doesn't mean Jesus didn't give us why? No, not at all. The entire gospel of Matthew is the why? By the time we get to the last verses of the book, the author Matthew assumes we know the why? Why? is what Jesus has been doing all along.
So... why do we baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach the nations to obey all the Jesus commanded? Simply because we believe that God has chosen to dwell with us in order to restore the world to the goodness that God intended all along. We believe that sin and death are not supposed to reign but instead grace is more powerful. We believe that love is the most important force in the universe and when one person loves another person then God is truly served and the world is truly changed. That's what we believe and that's why we baptize and teach... and preach and teach... and heal and help... and build and join... and a whole lot of other what? and how?
Why do we work for our mission statement? Because we believe God has chosen to transform the world by baptizing and teaching. It's not the what? or the how? that inspires us. It's the why?
You can see more about why? in the Bible if you are interested, and I hope you are. Start with why? and we will be able to inspire others to our cause.
A mission statement for Christians:
"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you."
In his book, "Start With Why," Simon Sinek argues that in order to inspire people to a cause or a mission we have to understand not just the what? and the how? but the why? of what we are doing. It's not enough to have a good plan or strategy. People are not inspired by plans. "Why?" is a statement about what I believe. You can see more in Sinek's Ted Talk about his book if you are interested, and I hope you are.
Fact is, many Christians don't know the why? Our mission statement given to us in Matthew 28 is the what? and the how? but it's not the why? That doesn't mean Jesus didn't give us why? No, not at all. The entire gospel of Matthew is the why? By the time we get to the last verses of the book, the author Matthew assumes we know the why? Why? is what Jesus has been doing all along.
So... why do we baptize in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach the nations to obey all the Jesus commanded? Simply because we believe that God has chosen to dwell with us in order to restore the world to the goodness that God intended all along. We believe that sin and death are not supposed to reign but instead grace is more powerful. We believe that love is the most important force in the universe and when one person loves another person then God is truly served and the world is truly changed. That's what we believe and that's why we baptize and teach... and preach and teach... and heal and help... and build and join... and a whole lot of other what? and how?
Why do we work for our mission statement? Because we believe God has chosen to transform the world by baptizing and teaching. It's not the what? or the how? that inspires us. It's the why?
You can see more about why? in the Bible if you are interested, and I hope you are. Start with why? and we will be able to inspire others to our cause.
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